Legend of Korra: What Happened To Kuvira After The Series Ended

Kuvira was the last of The Legend of Korra‘s villains – introduced as an ally in season 3 before becoming the main antagonist of season 4. Raised from a young age by Toph Beifong’s daughter, Suyin, Kuvira rose up through the ranks of the Earth Kingdom military and eventually attempted to unify all the Earth Kingdom cities into a unified Earth Empire, ruled with a (literal) iron fist. Though she was ultimately defeated by the Avatar, Kuvira’s story continued after The Legend of Korra ended, in the sequel comic Ruins of the Empire.

Unlike Avatar: The Last Airbender, which featured Fire Lord Ozai as the main (though largely unseen) villain throughout all three seasons, The Legend of Korra had a different big bad for each of its four seasons. Kuvira was arguably the most compelling enemy that Korra faced, because she sincerely believed that her actions were righteous and that the Earth Kingdom would ultimately be stronger as a unified nation.

This zeal ultimately led to Kuvira building a giant robot with a weapon of mass destruction on its arm, powered by energy stolen from the Spirit World. The final battle between Kuvira’s mech and Team Avatar left Republic City wrecked and ripped open a new spirit portal in the heart of the city. Kuvira surrendered and ordered her troops to stand down – but not all of them followed this order. Here’s how Kuvira’s story continues in The Legend of Korra: Ruins of the Empire.

Kuvira’s Childhood At Zaofu

Before jumping into Kuvira’s future, it’s first worth taking a look at what Ruins of the Empire reveals about her past. The Legend of Korra only stated that Kuvira went to live with Suyin as a little girl and was raised alongside Toph’s grandchildren. Through flashbacks, the sequel comic reveals that Kuvira was an unruly child who lashed out with her earthbending skills whenever her temper got the better of her. One day she accidentally hurt her mother, and so her father decided to get rid of her. Suyin offered to take in the tempestuous little girl, and greeted her at the gates of Zaofu with a promise to keep her safe.

As an adult, Kuvira bitterly says that she was never truly part of the family, but it’s unclear whether Suyin actually treated her differently or whether Kuvira’s memories of childhood are simply colored by her own anger. One flashback shows her getting into a fight with Opal and using her bending powers to crush her adopted sister’s doll house. When Suyin attempts to placate Opal, she angrily says that Kuvira isn’t her sister, and is just a “stray dog nobody ever wanted.” Kuvira’s resentment may not be entirely unfounded, but it’s clear that her angry and violent impulses were a source of friction between her and the Beifong family.

Kuvira Pleads Not Guilty At Her First Trial

Kuvira may have willingly surrendered at the end of The Legend of Korra‘s series finale, but that doesn’t mean she’s sorry for what she did. At her trial she resents hearing a litany of her crimes with no acknowledgement of her achievements. Feeling that the only purpose of the trial is to further humiliate her in the wake of her defeat, she defiantly pleads not guilty. She is placed in a high-security prison, but is soon called upon for help by Korra after Commander Guan, the leader of the Earth Empire’s southern forces, refuses to surrender and starts making his own plans for conquest. Through this storyline it’s revealed that Kuvira wasn’t entirely aware of the atrocities being committed in the reeducation camps that she established – among them, experimental brainwashing.

Kuvira’s Reunion With Baatar Jr.

After Asami, Mako and Bolin are captured and brainwashed by Commander Guan, Kuvira is forced to reunite with her former fiancé, Baatar Jr., in order to find a way to reverse-engineer the mind control machines. Baatar is Suyin’s son, and was a secondary antagonist throughout The Legend of Korra season 4, supporting Kuvira by leading scientific experiments with spirit energy. In the final attack on Republic City, however, Kuvira knowingly fired a lethal blast of spirit energy at a building Baatar was in. He was shaken by the realization that Kuvira was willing to kill him in order to achieve her goals, and was placed on house arrest at the end of The Legend of Korra.

Baatar is understandably upset when he is reunited with Kuvira in Ruins of the Empire – even more so when she makes excuses for her actions and suggests that he would have done the same thing in her place. Nonetheless, he agrees to work with her for the sake of helping the Earth Kingdom and atoning for his own crimes against his family and people. Kuvira then surprises him with her selflessness when she volunteers to be a test subject for their version of the brainwashing machine, knowing that it could cause memory loss or brain damage. Before they part ways, Kuvira makes another attempt at an apology and assures Baatar that she really did love him.

Helping Team Avatar Defeat Commander Guan

After Commander Guan wins the Earth Kingdom’s first “democratic” election by brainwashing voters, Kuvira escapes and goes to confront him directly. Korra and her allies follow her to the reeducation camp, where Kuvira enters into a one-on-one metalbending fight with Guan. She eventually succeeds in pinning him to a wall with shards of metal and rebuffs his attempt to surrender, instead preparing to kill him. However, Suyin warns her that killing Guan won’t bring her any peace, and for the first time Kuvira is able to resist turning to violence as the solution to her problems. She lets Guan live, and willingly returns into custody to await her own sentence.

Kuvira Accepts Responsibility For Her Crimes

After Prince Wu decides to hold on to his crown a while longer, in order to give the Earth Kingdom’s new democratic system time to properly develop, Kuvira is put on trial once again. This time she interrupts Varrick’s testimony to give a full confession of her own crimes, finally able to accept responsibility for them, and enters a guilty plea. After the trial, Korra praises Kuvira for redeeming herself, and Asami says that while it will be a long time before she can forgive the former military dictator for murdering her father, she was glad to have her as an ally in this particular fight.

Kuvira’s reward for acknowledging her offences is to be placed on house arrest in Zaofu alongside Baatar Jr., rather than being returned to the miserable prison she was held in previously. It’s possible we’ll see her again if Dark Horse orders another Legend of Korra comic trilogy, but Ruins of the Empire offers an satisfying redemption arc and a worthy ending for Kuvira.

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Hannah Shaw-Williams
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